The investigative report “Scrap Wars”, produced by investigative journalist and colleague Mohammad Al-Bassiki in collaboration with a team of journalists, has been nominated for the European Press Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in investigative journalism in Europe.

The investigation, published across multiple languages and international platforms, explores the link between child labour and armed conflict in fueling Turkey’s steel industry boom. It was published in Arabic on the SIRAJ website, in Spanish by El País, and in English by The New Arab.

The winners will be announced during an official ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 3.

The Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ) is an independent organization and a leading institution in promoting investigative journalism in Syria. It is a member of both the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).

Founded in November 2016, SIRAJ works to train Syrian journalists and produce in-depth investigations that expose corruption, human rights violations, and sanctions evasion, both inside Syria and across the diaspora.

The post “Scrap Wars” Investigation Nominated for the European Press Prize appeared first on SIRAJ.

The Switzerland-based International Sports Press Association (AIPS) recognized the outlets in its Investigative Journalism category. The winning report revealed how Maher al-Assad, brother of Syria’s former president, pressured the national football federation into awarding a lucrative, no-tender marketing contract to a little-known agency owned by his nephew by marriage. The deal granted the agency an unusually large 35 percent cut of marketing revenues.

SIRAJ reporters Bassel Alhamdou and Mazen Al Hindi spent months securing exclusive documents proving the contract was awarded solely based on family ties.

Accepting the award at the April 11 ceremony, Alhamdou highlighted the severe risks of investigating the former regime. “I want to share this award with family, my wife and children, whom I put in danger because of my work,” he said.

The collapse of the Assad government last December dismantled a massive patronage network, which included illicit businesses controlled by Maher al-Assad’s heavily sanctioned Fourth Armoured Division.

While current Syrian President Sharaa pledged in his January inaugural address to eradicate corruption and favoritism, nepotism remains a feature of the country’s governance. The president’s brother, Hazem Al-Sharaa, currently serves as vice president of the Supreme Council for Economic Development, though the president did order the closure of another brother’s Damascus-based business office last October.

The post OCCRP and SIRAJ Win International Sports Journalism Award for Syrian Football Exposé appeared first on SIRAJ.

The following Q&A explores SIRAJ’s most impactful investigations, the methodologies behind them, and the ongoing importance of independent journalism in conflict and post-conflict settings.

Investigative reports produced by SIRAJ  have contributed to raising awareness among the Syrian public, both inside and outside Syria, about the importance of serious and in-depth journalism in creating an environment of accountability. Such journalism serves as a tool to improve people’s lives and combat corruption in a country that has suffered under dictatorship for half a decade.

Our investigations have also played a role in exposing corruption, reducing the waste of public funds, and pursuing criminals and human rights violators by relying on the outcomes of published investigations in courtrooms and in local and international human rights reports.

Our work has established an indispensable foundation for transitional justice processes, based on documents, photographs, contracts, court records, and other evidence. This helps decision-makers, policymakers, and civil society organizations in any future transitional justice efforts.

In addition to producing investigations, SIRAJ has, over ten years since its founding, developed methodologies and principles related to uncovering corruption through investigative journalism, promoting public-interest journalism, and fighting impunity. One notable example is the investigation “The Bloody Phosphate Trade Between Syria and Europe,” which contributed to the imposition of sanctions on individuals, militia members, and security companies in Syria that profit from a bloody trade by exporting phosphate by sea to European farmers. This trade enriches a class of wealthy warlords in Syria who circumvent European sanctions imposed on the now-ousted Assad regime.

Other investigations, such as tracking European truck supply chains to Syria—which were used by the former regime’s army in repression and in transporting weapons—helped draw the attention of European authorities, particularly in Sweden, and prompted calls to tighten sanctions on the regime and address legal loopholes exploited by traders and those dealing with brutal authorities.

Of course, this work came at a high cost for us as journalists. After the fall of the regime in December last year, we discovered that the secret intelligence service had, in November 2025—just one month before the regime’s collapse—ordered spies to track the SIRAJ team both inside and outside Syria. At the same time, a unit of the secret police raided my family’s home in Damascus, asked about me personally, and searched my father’s phone for any information that could reveal my whereabouts.

One of the investigations highlights the continued danger of landmines across former frontlines in Syria. What did your team discover?

The investigation, using open-source tools, interviews with local residents and victims, and field visits, found that local populations continue to suffer from the danger of Russian/Soviet landmines in the direct contact zones between the former Syrian regime forces and armed opposition groups. As a result, civilians are paying a heavy human, economic, and environmental price due to these mines and their impact on the present and future return of displaced Syrians to these areas.

We documented dozens of cases of deaths and injuries in the area using open-source data and databases from independent organizations. We also identified approximate geographic locations and tracked patterns of these incidents. The investigation concludes that agricultural areas were among the primary targets of mining operations along the contact lines, as part of a deliberate strategy to cause long-term, large-scale human, material, and environmental damage.

Our investigation estimates that approximately 13,700 hectares of agricultural and civilian land are at risk from landmines, based on the observed patterns of mine deployment in certain contact-line areas.

How did open-source intelligence help you investigate the landmine crisis?

OSINT was a great help for us while working on the investigation on landmines in Syria. Using available information and publicly published cases of casualties by humanitarian organizations, local media outlets, and local councils we were able to gather a lot of data that can serve as a sample to analyse the bigger picture. Then by using satellite imagery and other data bases it allowed us to clearly analyse and point-out the pattern of landmines in that area which was to target agricultural areas and communities in the former front-line between the Assad regime and opposition forces.

Another major investigation looked at the Harasta Military Hospital and the treatment of political detainees. What did the reporting uncover?

This investigation is the result of a collective effort and collaboration among journalists from several media organizations working with Siraj across Germany and Syria. The investigation was published in print and online, and a televised report was broadcast. After seven months of inquiry, tracking, and examining evidence, documents, and images, we revealed how dozens of doctors—including some who are still practicing medicine in Germany—contributed to the torture of detainees at Harasta Military Hospital and to falsifying the causes of their deaths in Assad’s prisons and medical facilities.

Through documents and testimonies from survivors and witnesses who previously worked at Harasta Military Hospital, and by using open-source investigative techniques, we obtained evidence indicating that Syrian doctors who once worked at the formerly “notorious” military hospital are now residing in Germany, with some holding senior positions in its hospitals. They fled Syria at different times and currently live in Germany.

Among them is a doctor who is alleged to have treated one of the detainees interviewed by the investigation team without anesthesia.

That investigation tracked several doctors now practicing in Germany. How did your team identify and locate them?

SIRAJ alongside ICIJ and Süddeutsche Zeitung worked on this investigation which started from photos of documents found in the hospitals some of these doctors worked on. The documents were signed by multiple names. We started searching for every bit of information available on these names on social media, news websites and any open sources. That deep search allowed us to find some faces available on the web and social media accounts. We then ran facial recognition systems to add more verification and fact checking on these names and social media accounts before moving to the final stage of interviewing some of these doctors.

Your team also participated in an investigation into the killing of journalists Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik. What role did visual analysis play in that investigation?

At the outset, a video posted on YouTube by a fighter in the Syrian army documenting shelling from Regiment 64 on 22 February 2012 was reviewed, along with another video published on the same day from within the media center documenting that it was also under attack.

By analyzing these videos and determining the geographic location using satellite imagery, we were able to confirm the authenticity of the footage from within the regiment and the presence of artillery. We also identified the trajectory of the shell and its direction by examining light reflections on the building adjacent to the media center.

When the videos were presented to experts, they confirmed that the damage sustained by the media center was caused by a Soviet-made M46 artillery shell of 130 mm caliber.

The video footage was then cross-referenced with satellite imagery, which confirmed the presence of six artillery pieces of the same type stationed at Regiment 64, positioned for firing toward the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs.

Finally, additional videos of the shelling of Baba Amr on the same day were reviewed, and when analyzed by experts and defected officers, they confirmed that the sound matched that of the same artillery type. In particular, the time difference between the firing sound and the impact was 10.95 seconds. Based on the specifications of this artillery, the shelling occurred from a distance of approximately 12 kilometers. Returning to satellite imagery, only one military site within this range was found to host artillery of the same type, located 12.6 kilometers south of Baba Amr: Regiment 64.

What challenges did you face while investigating events that took place years ago?

We believe that the passage of time should never lead to the statute of limitations on violations. There are families still waiting for justice for their sons and loved ones. Our role is to uncover the truth, highlight abuses, and promote accountability, but this is a difficult and long process.

One of the main challenges is the scarcity of financial support and the lack of grants to cover the expenses of investigative journalists, newsrooms, and in-depth reporting. A significant amount of our time is spent searching for funding, which is unfortunately increasingly limited, and with it, the values of accountability and justice are lost while perpetrators escape.

On the journalistic and research level, many visual pieces of evidence that could have helped reveal the truth have been erased or removed from social media platforms. As a result, collecting evidence has become more difficult than before. This is where the importance of open-source intelligence comes in, as it allows us to search through all available online archives to reconstruct the scene of the crime and simulate it.

In addition, all visual evidence found in previous cases requires complex verification processes before it can be reused, which demands significant effort and both free and paid technological tools, as well as extensive human work that adds essential value and layers of verification to each piece of evidence before it can be used in a story.

After the fall of the regime, people became free and began speaking about atrocities they previously could not mention openly. The values of investigative journalism grow stronger over time in environments of freedom of expression.

Every day, we receive new evidence and testimonies about past violations and crimes, and we do everything we can to keep up with this reporting and document it.

At the same time, the impunity enjoyed by the Assad regime and its figures—who committed most of the atrocities of the past—and the absence of genuine transitional justice have made some sources less willing to cooperate, based on the perception that perpetrators have escaped punishment in Moscow.

The “Damascus Dossier” project involved collaboration with international investigative networks. How important are cross-border collaborations for your work?

Cross-border collaboration between journalistic teams represents an important pathway for creating impact and maximizing the reach of investigative reporting across borders, especially when the team includes newsrooms from different backgrounds and languages. This gives the story significant momentum and allows it to reach a wider audience beyond regional and national boundaries.

Cross-border investigative journalism serves as a bridge through which the Syrian story can be brought into the international news agenda and into the newsrooms of major media organizations. It is undoubtedly a competitive process, and you must have a compelling, well-substantiated story that convinces international editors to take it on, develop it, and publish it.

In the years preceding the fall of the Syrian regime, cross-border investigative journalism played a major role in exposing the practices and violations committed by the former regime and its army against civilians, as well as the widespread use of chemical weapons, and the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to cross into Europe.

One investigation examined the personal phonebook of a senior Syrian security official. What can such documents reveal?

While it is known how much power such personalities can hold within the Syrian regime, documents like this can still show how complicated and extensive their power and “alliances” can reach to circles outside of the military-security sphere. The document you mentioned showed that this official had contacts that extend in all forms of public life such as civil governance, foreign representation, services, telecommunication, opposition and even art. While one document can’t reveal any details on how deep these connections are, it is still very interesting to have a glimpse at it through the phonebook.

Another investigation explored how the Syrian regime enforced restrictions on the use of foreign currency. What did that reveal about governance under the regime?

The investigation reveals that the Assad regime mobilized a network of informants and a set of laws to monopolize the possession of foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar and the euro, by tracking and arresting anyone who dealt in US dollars or other foreign currencies following Decree No. 3 of 2020, which criminalized any transactions in currencies other than the Syrian pound.

This contributed to tightening the security grip on those who possessed any amounts of foreign currency, placing them in a position where they were either forced to share it with the Assad authorities or face security prosecution.

Many Syrians were subjected to extortion, imprisonment, killing, and arrest due to their possession of foreign currencies, which the former regime had banned from circulation. This caused additional suffering for many Syrians who were already under the pressure of the secret police and informants who were secretly pursuing them in order to entrap them.

This has been documented in leaked records and documents from Air Force Intelligence, Military Intelligence, and the secret police branches, which our journalistic team has reviewed.

Many of your investigations rely on digital evidence and OSINT. How has this changed investigative journalism in conflict zones?

OSINT has been a vital lifeline for a lot of investigations in conflict zones not only for SIRAJ but for so many journalists and outlets. When military powers or security situations don’t allow journalists to be on the ground, satellite images allow them to watch from above. And when media blackouts are enforced, local activists, social media and citizen journalists and their content become the eyes to monitor and analyse the situation. Platforms that track flights and ships allow journalists to track even the most silent types of illegal, shadow and corrupt activities.

Even in Syria today, which may not be a “conflict zone” in the traditional sense anymore, OSINT still allows us to track, watch and analyse information independently and provide evidence-based investigation to all our readers.

Finally, what impact do you hope these investigations will have for Syrians and for the international community?

We believe that the current stage Syria is going through is a historic one, and it will largely shape the future of press freedom in Syria for decades to come. Therefore, we hope that these investigations will help raise public awareness of the importance of journalism as an effective tool in confronting authority when it seeks to monopolize decision-making and avoid any democratic process.

We also hope that these investigations will lay the foundation for any future transitional justice process. Most of the investigations we have worked on have exposed influential individuals who committed atrocities against Syrians and then escaped accountability. As a result, courts and the judiciary need this documentation as a basis for any fair future prosecution.

Investigative journalism strengthens the overall climate of media freedom and creates an environment of accountability. This was the starting point of Siraj’s vision for a new Syria, where accountability becomes a tool for improving society. This vision is implemented through the mission of producing reports and investigative work that serve the public interest.

The post Q&A: Mohammad Bassiki: Investigating war crimes, corruption and accountability in Syria appeared first on SIRAJ.

The investigation was led by Lighthouse Reports in collaboration with several Arab and international media organizations, including the Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ), alongside other media partners.

The investigation uncovered the role of Syrian intelligence services, as well as international institutions and global organizations, in the concealment and long-term separation of children of Syrian opposition figures from their families, within a complex context that spanned several years. The work relied on cross-border reporting and collaboration between multiple newsrooms to uncover the details of this sensitive case.

The investigation was produced with the participation of several international media outlets, including BBC, DER SPIEGEL, Women Who Won the War, and Trouw.

Being shortlisted for the Sigma Awards represents an important recognition of collaborative investigative journalism that highlights human rights issues and violations linked to the Syrian conflict, and reflects the importance of international cooperation in uncovering complex cross-border stories.

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Several official government accounts in Syria were briefly hijacked on the social media platform X, the country’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said on Tuesday, raising concerns about the security of state digital infrastructure at a moment of heightened regional tensions.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the ministry said it had temporarily lost control of a number of accounts but had coordinated with platform administrators to restore access and prevent further misuse.

It added that specialists at the National Information Security Center were working to address vulnerabilities and would introduce new, binding governance controls for official accounts. Cybersecurity, the ministry said, is a “shared responsibility,” and a broader regulatory framework to strengthen digital protections would be announced soon.

The perpetrators have not been identified. Before the accounts were recovered, several carried posts expressing pro-Israel messages, according to activity logs on the platform, fueling speculation about a political motive behind the breach.

At least 10 accounts belonging to sovereign and service institutions were affected, including those of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, the Syrian Central Bank and the Ministries of Transport, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Education, and Youth and Sports, as well as the Supreme Committee for People’s Assembly Elections. It was not immediately clear whether the breach was limited to unauthorized posts or extended to internal data.

Alaa Ghazzal, a technology expert, said it was “not possible to determine the responsible party without clear technical data and digital evidence,” adding that the episode “indicates weaknesses in the management and protection mechanisms of official accounts, and that attribution requires a thorough technical investigation.”

The cyberattack came on the third day of the escalating conflict involving Iran, amplifying concerns about the resilience of Syria’s digital systems during periods of acute regional strain.

The post Cyberattack Targets Syrian State Accounts as War Escalates appeared first on SIRAJ.

The investigation, carried out in partnership with ARIJ and DARAJ, reveals—through official documents, exclusive testimonies, and field research—how Syria’s pharmaceutical licensing system was exploited to import legal chemicals, including diphenhydramine, and convert them into a key ingredient for counterfeit Captagon pills manufactured in secret labs under the supervision of the Fourth Division in rural Damascus.

The report also traces international supply chains stretching from factories in Europe and India, through front companies and cross-border shipping lines, to a security-protected production infrastructure within Syria, as part of a trade estimated to be worth billions of dollars, which has become one of the main sources of illicit economy during the years of war.

Read the full investigation

The True Story Award is a global journalism prize that aims to amplify the voices of journalists and correspondents beyond their home countries and to promote diverse perspectives in the international media landscape.

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He said the move marks “a new direction” in Ukraine’s sanctions policy.

“It’s an important step—we imposed sanctions on maritime vessels that transported Ukrainian grain from the occupied territories… We will increase this pressure. Every Russian crime must receive an appropriate response, and sanctions are the quickest response,” Zelenskyy said in a video address.

The decree enacts a National Security and Defense Council decision that backed proposals from the Security Service of Ukraine to target ships allegedly involved in the Kremlin-organized grain trade from seized Ukrainian lands. The Cabinet, central bank, and security agencies were directed to ensure the sanctions’ implementation and effectiveness, while the Foreign Ministry was instructed to inform the European Union, United States, and other partners and seek parallel measures abroad.

Several of the sanctioned vessels were previously identified in a major October investigation by OCCRP and its Syrian partner SIRAJ, which reported that the Finikia, Laodicea, and Souria—once owned by the Syrian government under former dictator Bashar al-Assad—had quietly been transferred in 2023 to an offshore company in the Seychelles.

According to sales contracts and corporate records found by SIRAJ and cited in the investigation, the Seychelles firm was controlled by a figure linked to Assad’s inner circle. At least two of the ships were sold by a Syrian state agency for just $1 each, transactions indicating that the vessels may have been appropriated by regime insiders ahead of Assad’s ouster.

Those ships later appeared in Russia-controlled ports on the Black Sea, where they allegedly loaded grain taken from occupied Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian public sanctions registries confirm that Finikia, Laodicea, and Souria are now officially under Kyiv’s restrictions.

Ukraine says the latest measures aim to disrupt the maritime infrastructure supporting Russia’s war economy and to pressure international partners to tighten enforcement against ships participating in what Kyiv calls the theft and laundering of its grain.

The post Ukraine Sanctions 56 Ships in Push Against Stolen Grain Exports appeared first on SIRAJ.

In our 2024 Year in Review, you’ll find:

• Investigative highlights exposing human rights abuses, corruption, and international complicity.

• Behind-the-scenes stories on our most influential reports.

• A look at our growing impact through global partnerships and recognition.

• Our ongoing commitment to capacity-building and ethical journalism.

• A vision for 2025 as we return to Syria for the first time in over a decade.

Read the full Year in Review and explore how investigative journalism continues to shape Syria’s path to truth and justice:

SIRAJ Year in Review

Thank you for standing with us. The fight for accountability and transparency in Syria continues—with your support, louder than ever.

The post SIRAJ’s Year in Review 2024 Is Now Live! appeared first on SIRAJ.

1. Don’t remove documents from their location unless it is clear they’re at risk of being removed or destroyed.
2. Take a photo/video showing the document in its current location. Write down the date and time, exact location, description of the document, and any information about whether it has been moved, how it’s being stored, and by whom (including, where possible, their names and any official positions). 
3. When you receive a document or copy from a source, ask and record i) where, ii) when, and iii) how they obtained it, as well as iv) who from, in order to preserve the chain of custody for any potential future legal process. 
4. Share information about documents you obtain that are at risk of being removed or destroyed with groups that specialised in document preservation. 
5.  And where relevant, human rights or justice and accountability organisations. 
6. Where possible, check, document, and preserve metadata. When sharing documents, send them via email or create a zip file instead of Signal and other messaging apps that remove metadata. 

How to scan documents (and make sure they are actually usable)

• Make sure to write down and/or photograph the exact location of the document, including the building, room, section of the filing cabinet, as well as the cover of any folders or logbooks. 
• Make sure to capture the full page of the document, paying extra attention to any dates, names, signatures, or official logos/stamps. Lay the document on a flat surface to avoid hands or shadows obscuring any part of the document. 
• When uploading/sharing documents, add locations, dates, and descriptions to filenames in order to keep track of which files were found together.

For more information and guidance, do not hesitate to ask for help from Siraj specialists. Write to us via the following email: sirajsy.net@sirajsy.net

The post Guidelines for Journalists Gathering Documents in Syria appeared first on SIRAJ.

The workshop is organized by the Syrian investigative journalism unit SIRAJ and the cross-border investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports. The workshop will combine training, practical exercises and Q&As with expert guest speakers. Trainers will cover social media investigations, analyzing satellite imagery and plane and ship tracking, amongst other topics.  

Unfortunately we are unable to support visa applications, so the workshop is open only to Syrians who are already based in the Schengen area. Most of the training will be held in Arabic but some presentations will be in English so intermediate fluency is required. You will need to bring your own laptop.

Other requirements:

Student, recent graduate or young professional 

Confidence using technology and have strong understanding of internet research tools

Have demonstrated interest in and commitment to digital investigations, public interest journalism and/or human rights documentation

People with a background in creative arts, architecture, technology and related disciplines are welcome to apply – formal journalism experience is not required. Women and people from underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply.

Practicalities: 

• The workshop will be held from 27-30 January 2025
• Travel to Berlin, accommodation and breakfasts/lunches will be provided

To apply, please fill out this form

Please note that users must sign in with their Google accounts to access and complete the form

DEADLINE Wednesday11 December 2024

If you have any questions about the training please contact: sirajsy.net@sirajsy.net 

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